Slick tilt bed trailer deck

[farmallboy15]

What solutions do you fine folks have for gaining traction on steep tilt bed trailers? When we first got it ~10 years ago if it was moist at all you couldnt hardly drive up it with a 2wd tractor.

At that time we put herculiner / bed liner on it. This worked fine but the sun really beat the coating and Im sure the coating held moisture in and now Im putting a new deck on due to rotten holes. Not wanting to do that again no way in my mind treated lumber should rot through in 10 years.

This time Around Im thinking of screwing down expanded metal or routing shallow grooves into the boards. What other ideas do you have?

 

[farmallboy15]

 

[Crookedwrench]

Add some welded rebar to the rear metal apron. Maybe some expanded metal over the tire tracks on the wood?

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I bolted expanded metal to my slick

ramps.

 

[carpenter]

I wood recommend using foundation grade treated lumber.
It is usually southern yellow pine and will not ever need to be
replaced in your lifetime due to rotting and is much stronger than ordinary corrosive treated.

It can be ordered in old school arsenic treatment and is not corrosive to metal.
It will be very heavy and wet so letting it dry in your heated shop for a few
weeks will help a lot in not causing it to peel any coatings you may choose to apply.

Maybe an epoxy finish with lots of sand or gravel tossed on to give traction ?

 

[old-9]

Is that a winch mounted on the front ?

 

[Mark-Ia]

Is that a home built trailer? Wheels seem to be mounted forward to far.

 

[farmallboy15]

Its a 22 PJ. Axles are pretty much in the middle. Have to be that way to get the bed angled down to the ground without being too steep. Picture makes it look worse than it is.

 

[farmallboy15]

Yep. It comes in hand for dead equipment. Reworking the winch wiring is on the list as well.

 

[farmallboy15]

Wish I had known about that before I bought and installed the lumber Ill keep that in mind for other applications though!

 

[casecollectorsc]

Bingo!!

 

[Steve@Advance]

Another secret to making exposed boards last, look at the end grain, put the curve of the grain up so water tends to migrate off the sides instead of pooling toward the middle.

I would not cross cut the tops, that will only let water into the end grain, last thing you want to happen.

Bolting down some extremely heavy expanded metal makes for good traction. But it has to be rugged and well bolted or it will bow up.

 

[504]

Really the best way is to just winch it on.Expanded metal works great till you want to slid something on to the trailer.

 

[Eldon (WA)]

(quoted from post at 17:40:56 12/22/21)
<img src=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto111722.jpg>

One of the reasons I stuck with the PJ deckovers with ramps. The other is axle placement, that trailer will have a greater tendency to whip going down the road due to axle placement. If you have the hydraulic model you can get a remote to lower the trailer as you drive on....

 

[db4600]

Fasten used snowmobile tracks.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 23:45:52 12/22/21) Fasten used snowmobile tracks.

How do you remove the lugs from the back? I have not yet heard of a good way that doesn't take hours.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I was thinking of a tilt trailer because empty, my 20 ft implement trailer kicks the rear of the truck.
How does your tilt trailer behave empty?

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Put a heavy wet coat of polyurethane on the wood and spread sand on it.

 

[farmallboy15]

Not sure what you mean by kicks the rear of the truck? Like not enough tongue weight with your current trailer?

The tilt is HEAVY and pulls hard for a gas 3/4 ton. My truck does ride better though with it hooked up and empty than it does without trailer. No fishtailing or bouncing unless it gets loaded too far back. It's 5500lb empty so I have to register it as commercial for $120 a year since it breaks the 5000lb cutoff vs like $30 or $40 for my stock trailer... Since the bed is so steep it poses issues for backing up low clearance equipment. As stated before it can get slick as well. Other complaint with this one is that the width is only 93 at the deck, not a full 104. Also, it is one more battery to keep charged and replace...

The next trailer will be one of the 18k goosenecks with full width folding ramps.

 

[Janicholson]

1/8 expanded stainless steel (not flattened) 20 inches wide on each side. Also in the center at the front if you carry a narrow front tractor. Jim
One source

 

[Dune Country]

Go to your local rock quarry and get some of their used conveyor belting

 

[DoubleO7]

Lay your farmall tire chains down.
Have a angle iron toes down across deck secured/bolted to the wheel well deck metal or outer rails.
"Hang" the chains from strategic holes in angle iron.
Can be all easily removed and stored in a box and under deck.

Might use expanded metal instead the same way.

 

[Eldon (WA)]

(quoted from post at 07:30:12 12/23/21) Not sure what you mean by kicks the rear of the truck? Like not enough tongue weight with your current trailer?

The tilt is HEAVY and pulls hard for a gas 3/4 ton. My truck does ride better though with it hooked up and empty than it does without trailer. No fishtailing or bouncing unless it gets loaded too far back. It's 5500lb empty so I have to register it as commercial for $120 a year since it breaks the 5000lb cutoff vs like $30 or $40 for my stock trailer... Since the bed is so steep it poses issues for backing up low clearance equipment. As stated before it can get slick as well. Other complaint with this one is that the width is only 93 at the deck, not a full 104. Also, it is one more battery to keep charged and replace...

The next trailer will be one of the 18k goosenecks with full width folding ramps.

I bought a 14k, 20+5 mega ramp Big Tex a couple of years ago and hated it. In order to balance the load I would have to back the tractor all the way on, flip the ramps down and then reposition the tractor...way too much work for the number of times I load and unload each day, so I always ran with too much weight on the truck. The tail of the trailer was so low that it would drag on some driveways and I would have to put in 4x4 to drag the tail off the asphalt.... I also lost the use of my truck bed. I went back to the 22' bumper pull.

 

[J.Wondergem]

My gooseneck has a hydraulic tail. and gets slippery when it gets rained on. I bought expanded metal with the edges bent up, and screwed it down. The tires get a good bite on it now.

 

[Ellis Kinney]

I would just keep a bucket of sand in the truck. Ellis

 

[farmallboy15]

Was that big Tex a gooseneck? I really need the ability to
run narrow front tractors up the middle which is why I
was looking at the mega ramps. What do you think is the
best of all the worlds? A hydraulic tail?

 

[Eldon (WA)]

(quoted from post at 08:48:12 12/23/21) Was that big Tex a gooseneck? I really need the ability to
run narrow front tractors up the middle which is why I
was looking at the mega ramps. What do you think is the
best of all the worlds? A hydraulic tail?

ttps://forumphotos.yesterdaystractors.com/photos/mvphoto86098.jpg[/img]

 

[Vicinalvictor]

Lock it in position and use ramps.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Like not enough tongue weight with your current trailer?

The trailer is empty. How do you add tongue weight?
I added a tool box and mounted the spare tire near the tongue.

If you have a kicking trailer, you would know what I'm talking about. My dump trailer is tame, it doesn't kick, only 10 ft long.
My implement trailer is factory made to all the specs for tire spacing.